Rosemary Chemutai burial dispute ends as husband withdraws court case

NAIROBI, Kenya — A legal dispute over the burial of former KCB executive Rosemary Chemutai has ended after her husband, Kelvin Migwe Kimwatu, withdrew his case and chose not to pursue the exhumation of her remains.

Kimwatu told the Milimani court on Monday, through his lawyer Ramadhan Abubakar, that he no longer wished to continue with the proceedings after Chemutai was buried on Friday night.

He also abandoned plans to pursue contempt proceedings against members of his wife’s family and other parties named in the case.

Abubakar said his client had considered seeking an order to have Chemutai’s remains exhumed but had decided against it.

Kimwatu, he said, had chosen to “leave to God whatever happened on the night of his wife’s burial”.

The lawyer told the court that his client felt he had been denied the opportunity to mourn his wife properly and had now chosen to bring the dispute to an end.

Instead of seeking further legal intervention, Kimwatu wants to be allowed to visit his wife’s graveside, together with their children, at a time agreed with her family.

The move marks a significant shift in a dispute that had briefly halted Chemutai’s burial and brought a private family disagreement before the courts.

Court had halted burial plans

On Friday, August 28, Milimani Principal Magistrate Agnes Mwangi issued interim orders stopping the removal of Chemutai’s remains from Lee Funeral Home and barring her burial without her husband’s involvement.

Kimwatu had moved to court after claiming he had been excluded from decisions surrounding his wife’s funeral arrangements.

He had sought to be involved in the burial and had indicated that he wanted Chemutai buried at their family home in Matasia, Kajiado County.

The dispute also involved KCB, where Chemutai served as Head of Data Protection. Court documents showed that the bank had written to Lee Funeral Home identifying people recorded in its employment records as next of kin and authorising them to liaise over the release and burial arrangements.

The case was therefore not a determination of who was legally entitled to make all burial decisions. The court had only issued interim orders while the parties were given an opportunity to be heard.

Family agrees to access to graveside

During Monday’s proceedings, lawyers representing Chemutai’s parents said they had no objection to the withdrawal of the case.

Felix Kiton, representing the family, told the court that the family had never intended to prevent Kimwatu from visiting his wife’s graveside.

He said the family continued to regard Kimwatu as their son-in-law.

The parties now appear to be moving away from the courtroom and towards reconciliation.

Abubakar described the dispute as painful for everyone involved and said withdrawing the case was intended to create room for the family to begin repairing strained relationships.

“We hope that the bones that tied them together for over 20 years will be mended,” the lawyer told the court.

The court subsequently allowed the suit to be withdrawn with no order as to costs.

A private family dispute that reached court

Chemutai died on August 21, 2026. She had been serving as KCB Bank Group’s Head of Data Protection before her death. Her burial later became the subject of an urgent court application after disagreements emerged over who would oversee the funeral arrangements.

The court intervention briefly placed the burial on hold. But after Chemutai was buried on Friday night, Kimwatu was faced with a different choice: pursue the legal fight, including possible exhumation, or bring the matter to an end.

He has chosen the latter.

The withdrawal does not resolve every underlying family disagreement. But it closes the court case and leaves the parties with an opportunity to mourn privately and work towards reconciliation.

For a family that has spent days dealing with grief, disagreement and a highly public court dispute, the next chapter will now be away from the courtroom.

About the Author

Maureen Onyango is a journalist passionate about storytelling, life coaching and spiritual lessons. She studied at the Kenya Institute of Management and enjoys telling stories that inform, inspire and empower communities.